How to get to Pompeii from Rome by Yourself

Before traveling to Italy, Pompeii has been on my Bucket list since I was a kid and watched a documentary on Discovery Channel about it. It was definitely worth a visit, and here I will teach you how to get to Pompeii from Rome by yourself.

For those who love visiting ruins and learning more about the past of our civilization, a day trip to Pompeii is a must for everybody visiting Rome, and as I fit this classification, I knew I had to visit Pompeii at some point in my life. So when I finally went to Italy, I took this opportunity to go to Pompeii as a day trip from Rome.

Pompeii is located close to Naples, it is a huge ruin site from ancient times, if you wish to visit the site completely you would need to plan at least one complete day to do so, and spend the night in Naples, to make it less tiring, otherwise, you can easily take a train to Pompeii from Rome, and visit the ancient city as a day trip.

Of course you have options of taking a day tour to Pompeii leaving from the capital however, I found it quite hard to find a tour that would take you from your hotels, instead, there are many tours leaving from Piazza del Popolo, and some that you have to make your way to Naples by yourself, and meet the tor group in Napoli Centrale Station.

In my case, it was way easier to go there by ourselves, since our hotel was close to the Colosseum, and pretty far away from Piazza del Popolo, and nobody wanted to wake up early. Turned out it was definitely the best option.

HOW TO GET TO POMPEII FROM ROME BY YOURSELF

To get to Pompeii from Rome is pretty simple. Before going there, I spoke to a couple of friends who told me it could be tricky and hard to do it by ourselves, to be honest, I have no idea why they said such a thing because it couldn’t have been easier.

The stations are well signalized and everything it very self-explanatory, so we didn’t have any trouble trying to locate ourselves.

Pompeii Tours

If you still prefer to take a tour don’t worry, there are actually only a few tours leaving from Rome to Pompeii, but still, you have the options. I recommend taking this tour to Pompeii, as it not only brings you to Pompeii but also offers lunch, so the cost & benefit worth it.

You also have the option to take a full day trip visiting Pompeii and Naples on the same day, if you book this tour. It also leaves from Rome and they pick you up at your hotel.

Another option is to make your way from Rome to Naples and take a tour from Naples to Pompeii, I recommend this tour, you can choose a central location for pickups.

If you want to make everything on your own though, the guide below will teach you how to make your way from Rome to Pompeii on your own, but don’t forget to get your tickets prior, so you can avoid the long lines.

I recommend taking the guided tour in Pompeii, for a more immersive tour. There is the traditional guided tour here, where you spend 2 hours with a professional guide. And the VR tour here, a private tour that recreates the old city of Pompeii with a 3D virtual reality headsets.

From Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale Station

All you need to do it to take a train to Naples first, as Pompeii is located really close to the central area of Naples, around 40 minutes away from the city center.

The trains to Naples leave from Termini Station, the main station in Rome and the one that links Rome to the rest of Europe and the two airports of Rome, Fiumicino, and Ciampino so if you are in Rome, you have probably already seen Termini Station before.

I have seen some people complaining about the price of the ticket, saying it is over 100 euros a round trip from Rome to Naples, but this is completely wrong, you can buy tickets as cheap as 15 euros each, so don’t worry.

Arriving in Naples

Naples is just one hour or one hour and a half away from Rome, and the train will take you to the Napoli Centrale Station, that’s the same station where you will take the next train to the Pompeii. If you arrive in Naples early, you can take the opportunity to visit the city quickly.

It is possible to take the Hop on hop off bus just outside the station, to make it easier to get to the main tourist attractions before heading to Pompeii. Just make sure to pay attention when walking around Naples, as this is unfortunately not the safest city in Italy, so watch out for your bag, keep it close to your body, where you can always see it.

The tour is short and it can be done in one hour if you don’t get out of the bus. Of course it will not be enough to see everything in the city, however, you will able to visit the main attractions and get a taste of Naples.

Some people also prefer to overnight in Naples instead of visiting Pompeii as a day trip from Rome. The issue with this is that first, sometimes you don’t have time for that, and second the price. Everything in Italy is expensive, to be honest, for me, it was the most expensive country I have been to so far. So no reason to overnight in Naples if your goal is just to visit Pompeii.

Napoli Centrale to Pompeii

Anyways, once you find yourself in Napoli Centrale, you will need to look for the Circumvesuviana line there are plates all over showing you the way.

From the ground floor, where you will arrive, the Cicuvesuviana line is just downstairs. They are definitely the most beautiful or clean trains you have ever seen, but well, they do the job. The train leaves the station every hour and takes around 40 minutes to arrive at Pompeii’s entrance.

Cicuvesuviana line

The Circumvesuviana line links Napoli Centrale to different areas around the city, including Herculano, which is another famous ruins, it is one of the cities that were destroyed by the same eruption as Pompeii. If you wish to spend more days in Napoli you can visit Herculano as a day trip, another time.

I do not recommend to visit Herculano and Pompeii on the same day as both ruins take some time to be appreciated and a visit to any of them can be pretty tiring. Pompeii by itself is huge, believe me, you don’t have an idea of how big it is until you get there.

Arriving in Pompeii

The Circumvesuviana line also stops right in from of the entrance for the ruins of Pompeii, the stop is called Pompei Scavi – Villa dei Misteri. There is no mistake, once you get out of the train, you will see the gates.

You can buy skip-the-line tickets on your way from the station to the entrance, really recommended if you are visiting Pompeii in the high season, as it normally has a long line to get inside the site, however, if it is not high season, you can totally buy your ticket at the entrance, in the Ticket Office.

There are many things that you will want to see there, including important houses, ancient streets and even the well-preserved colosseum, and these things are normally located far away from themselves and you will have to walk a lot to be able to see them, so especially if you are visiting Pompeii in the Summer, be prepared, don’t forget your comfortable shoes and a bottle of water!

This same Circumvesuviana line has as last stop Sorrento, another tourist city worth visit in Italy, so if you are spending more days in Naples, or even Rome, you can add Sorrento to your itinerary and follow the same route to get to the city, or if Sorrento is already in your itinerary, this is the route you will have to take to get there.

When you feel like coming back to Rome, you just need to do all this trip, again, the other way around! Easy as pie.

I highly recommend visiting Pompeii as a day trip on your own, it gives you more freedom to see everything, without the pressure of having a group waiting for you, plus, if you want a guide, you can always hire one in the site.